Fishing the North Coast: Results are in - crabs on the light side

Steve Harp of Modesto landed this nice hatchery king salmon Wednesday on the Smith River while fishing with guide Mike Coopman of Mike Coopman's Guide Service. The Smith is predicted to peak at nine feet on Thursday morning and should remain fishable through the weekend.

The DFG conducted their first pre-season crab quality testing on Monday, Oct. 22, testing crabs out of Eureka, Trinidad, Crescent City and Fort Bragg. According to DFG Senior Marine Biologist Pete Kalvass, who oversees the Invertebrate Management Project, the crabs were a little lighter than what they were hoping for. A typical year will find the meat content at around 20 percent, with the theory being that crabs will add one percent of meat a week and reach the 25 percent mark for the commercial opener of Dec. 1. According to Kalvass, crabs tested from Crescent City were at 15.5 percent, Trinidad was 16.5 percent, Eureka came in at 15.5 percent, and Fort Bragg tested at 18.4 percent.

"It's hard to say if there will be a delay in the commercial season, but the crabs will need to put on some weight in the next six weeks. The next round of tests will be Nov. 4, so we'll have a pretty good idea after that. Hopefully there's still a lot of crabs left over from last years record haul, which could play a part in the lower weight of the crabs as the competition for food could be greater," Kalvass said.

The Dungeness crab sport fishery will open statewide on Saturday, Nov. 3. The daily bag limit is 10 Dungeness crabs per person, except when fishing from a commercial passenger fishing vessel (or party boat) south of Mendocino County, in which case the limit is six. A legal-sized crab must be five and three-quarter inches measured by the shortest distance through the body from edge of shell to edge of shell directly in front of and excluding the points (lateral spines). Crabs taken from party boats must measure six inches minimum distance. For more information regarding recreational Dungeness crab fishing regulations and other crab species, please visit the DFG Marine Region website at www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/invertebrate/crabs.asp.

Weekend Weather

According to Reginald Kennedy of Eureka's National Weather Service, no substantial rainfall is predicted until next Tuesday. "Thursday and Friday look dry right now, with a slight chance of precipitation in the Smith Basin early Saturday. After that, we'll be in a dry pattern until Tuesday, when rain is once again in the forecast. We may see up to a half-inch by Wednesday evening and a slight rise in the rivers, but it's still pretty early to predict," Kennedy added.

Rockfish, Halibut seasons set to close

The recreational rockfish season for boat-based anglers as well as the Pacific Halibut season will come to a close on Wednesday, Oct. 31. According to Tim Klassen of Reel Steel Sport Fishing, the weekend weather might be decent enough to try for halibut and possibly running to the Cape for one last shot at rockfish. "Thursday and Friday's forecast looks really good, but the weekend looks like it's going to be a little bumpy with swells to seven feet on Saturday and up to eight on Sunday. Boaters should be advised that the bar crossing could be dangerous this weekend in conjunction with the high tides. You'll want to cross the bar within 45 minutes or so after high tide," Klassen added.

The Rivers:

River Closures

Other than the Smith, all North Coast rivers subjected to low flow fishing closures, including the Eel, Mad, Redwood Creek, and Van Duzen are closed. Sections of rivers that are open include the main stem Eel River from the paved junction of Fulmor Road to its mouth, the main stem Mad River from the Hammond Trail Railroad Trestle to its mouth. The low flow closure hotline for North Coast rivers is (707) 822-3164. NOTE: CA Fish and Game would like to remind anglers to check the CA DFG Sport Fishing Regulations booklet for the Eel River and other catch and release, barbless hook-only north coast streams and rivers. Also, in waters where the bag limit is zero for trout and salmon, the fish must be released unharmed and should not be removed from the water. For more information, visit www.dfg.ca.gov/regulations/FreshFish-Mar2012.

Eel River Estuary

The rain earlier in the week pushed a lot of the salmon that were holding in the estuary up river. With the river dropping and large tides coming this weekend, more should be coming in and staging for the next rain. Anglers trolling spinners and Kastmasters have been catching a few.

Smith River

According to Mike Coopman of Mike Coopman's Guide Service, the reports Wednesday from the Smith weren't great. "I'd say the average was about a fish per boat, or less. We weren't seeing a lot of fish rolling, so I don't think they were there in big numbers. The river was unsettled and on the rise all day, and that didn't help. From what I could tell, the fish that were down low early in the year shot up with last weeks rain and there aren't a lot of new ones behind them as of yet, but that could change tomorrow. This is the first big rise of the year, but it's still only predicted to get to nine feet, which isn't very big. We'll see how many fish are around once we get that first big flushing," Coopman added. Reminder: A North Coast Salmon Report Card is required to fish for salmon on the Smith River. The daily bag and possession limit is 1 Chinook salmon and no more than 5 wild Chinook salmon per year.

Lower Klamath

The Klamath was still on the rise as of Wednesday afternoon, but should remain in fishable shape reports Alan Borges of Alan's Guide Service. "I wouldn't be surprised if the rain didn't bring in a new shot of fresh fish. We were still catching a few fresh ones last weekend, as well as a few that had some color. The silvers are still trickling in as well as some fresh jacks. If we don't get a bunch more rain, the Klamath should continue to fish well," Borges added.

Trinity

Upper

According to Steve Huber of Steve Huber's Guide Service, the little shot of rain on Monday put the fish on the move. "The overcast and rain cooled the water and that seemed to light a fire under the fish. Although the river rose slightly, we still need a real good rain. There's lots of older salmon on beds now, and in conjunction, we're seeing some bigger numbers of steelhead showing up. We're also seeing some silvers push in. The smolts have moved down, so fishing bait is a doable," Huber added.

Bill Divens of Salmon King Lodge, who wrapped up his season on the Rogue Saturday, reports a good numbers of silvers are still in the bay. About one out of three is a hatchery. The best bait this past week was straight anchovies," Divens added

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